Sea47 it is no more difficult to get into The London Oratory School as any other school providing you meet the criteria. It does offer a strong academic curriculum but it is so much more than that - above all it has a strong nurturing/pastoral side to life there and the boys there seem to have fun.

How could I forget St Joseph's - the son of a neighbour goes there!! I think it has improved quite a bit in recent years - it used to suffer from Catholic parents all trying to get into John Fisher and leaving the less sharp-elbowed to go to St Joseph's but I think views are changing.

Dobby is correct, of course, that there is a private Catholic school in Bromley - I jumped to the conclusion that you wanted a state school. Bishop Challoner is a lovely school.

John Fisher is far easier to get into than it was during the 70's or 1990's.

In the 1990's the school was well known for it's infamous selection policy; the school no longer selects it's pupils but only takes the most practicing Catholic boys.

It's still a very good school, results are strong-but as it can no longer cream-off the best boys as it did during the selection policy, makes it harder for the school to compete with Whitgift, Trinity and Wilsons.

The school was always receiving complaints about the interviews and tests when I had my boys at John Fisher. Selection made it a very popular choice for parents, but also one of the most controversial schools.

My son started year 7 this September at St. Joseph's. We are not catholic but I was drawn to the school because of the schools ethos. They re very good in Maths. If your child is in the top set, he works at a year above and starts Maths GCSE's a year early. They have excellent sports facilities, playing fields, a swimming pool, etc. we are not local, so wasn't sure what to expect, ie the type of boys that go there, etc. so far I am happy, the head seems to do a good job with discipline. Sure, there is the odd fight That my son tells me about, but to be honest that probably happens in most schools. I would recommend going to the open evening to lern more.

Sony767 thank you and I surprised that you are not catholics and got in. I found on their website that they are looking to hire several staff members - now if they are not expanding, then why would they need 6 or 7 new staff?